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Superintendent outlines multi-year instructional plan, expands literacy and career pathways
Summary
Milford School District leaders presented a year-end overview of instructional priorities including a shift to the Bookworms literacy program with renewed writing emphasis, a STEM unit rollout, expanded concurrent enrollment and career-pathway pilots at the Academy.
Superintendent Dr. Patai presented a districtwide "balcony view" of improvement planning on June 8, describing coordinated work to align curriculum, instruction and resources around the instructional core.
The presentation highlighted four goal areas. Mr. Autieri said the district completed a review of elementary STEM units and plans to implement one revised unit per grade next year aligned to the state model curriculum. On literacy, the district phased Teachers College units in favor of the Bookworms program; Board member Nicole Flowers asked whether writing had been diminished. Presenters said Bookworms includes a shared reading component and an ELA/writing component so students continue to write about reading across elementary grades.
The presentation also covered workforce and pathway expansion: the district will increase concurrent-enrollment opportunities (examples cited included criminology, creative writing and an AP cybersecurity course), expand American Sign Language at middle school, and pursue new allied-health tracks such as emergency medical services and premedical biotechnology in partnership with industry stakeholders. Mr. Autieri said a Perkins needs assessment for career and technical education runs on a two-year cycle.
Mr. Autieri described program redesign at the Academy to create a smaller, career-focused option emphasizing experiential learning, community projects and interdisciplinary pilots. He said administrators plan a cautious, pilot-first approach to avoid diluting resources across the district and discussed options for student access to electives at comprehensive high schools through transportation partnerships.
Board members pressed on evaluation and measurement. Dr. Patai said the district uses a mix of classroom-level (leading) indicators gathered during learning walks, teacher-perception data, and lagging indicators such as SBA scores and interim assessments to set next steps. The district reported about 18 classroom visits tied to a recent summit and has used those observations to quantify the presence of targeted instructional practices.
The meeting concluded with the district committing to further parent and teacher focus groups on elementary report cards and a planned instructional highlight on special education next year.
The board did not take formal action on curriculum changes at the meeting; several items (Perkins assessment schedule, Academy pilots, revised report cards) were presented for future follow-up.
